January 04, 2006

The Lesser BCS Bowls...

Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 20

Mr. Positive Says: How in the hell were the Irish still in this game with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. If ND had wrapped up Smith on the third down, they would have been getting the ball back with a chance to win or tie after allowing over 500 yards of offense (to that point) to the Buckeyes.

Mr. Negative Says: Talk about luck of the Irish, without the three Buckeye turnovers, this score could have been something like 48-20. The game never was really as close as it was on the scoreboard after Notre Dame inexplicably went on fourth down, tied at 7-7.

Mr. Neutral Says: Charlie Weis wasn’t a genius in this game. Some things worked, but quarters two and three were terrible to watch. Notre Dame is a player with Weis, but he does need more weapons. Ohio State has plenty of weapons, but faces huge losses going into next year.Sugar Bowl: West Virginia 38, Georgia 35

I really thought Georgia was going to win in a blowout. The Dawgs were playing virtually at home against a lightly regarded 10-1 opponent. Rich Rodriguez needs to get some pub, now, amongst head coaches. Steve Slaton ran for over 200 yards against a very good defense. For the New Year’s Bowls that meant that both Auburn and Georgia gave up 200-yard rushers, amazing.

Rodriguez finished stealing the show on the sidelines calling a fourth down fake punt to keep the ball with the Mountaineers to finish off the win late in the fourth quarter. The Georgia Dome, full of fans ready to coronate a fantastic year for the Dawgs, instead treated fans to the dawn of a truly great West Virginia team. The Mountaineers could land in the Top 10 next year.Orange Bowl: Penn State 26, Florida State 23

I apologize in advance as my third shift job made me miss the fourth quarter and overtime. I only saw about a quarter of the action and it seemed like it was a war with aggressive hitting and Florida State looking a bit more vintage Seminole than the November edition, which saw the ‘Noles lose three straight games. I will check out the highlights tomorrow, but I did catch that there were a ton of missed field goals and even an extra point along the way to add to the grief of the septuagenarian coaches, Bowden and Paterno.

This game made me believe in Penn State a little more. They do have a nice offense, and I did hear on radio on the way to work about Paul Pozluszny getting injured, a possible leg fracture. That is a shame. Penn State will have heavy losses next year, but finally for one off-season Happy Valley will truly achieve its moniker.

The Rose Bowl is tomorrow and I will get to see about three quarters of the game…my thinking is that by then it will be long decided, however, I have been wrong the entire bowl season.